Rebecca Penty

When he took the top job at TransCanada in 2010, rising from the finance side, Russ Girling assumed what most Canadians assumed -- that the U.S., Canada's longtime chief energy partner, wanted the Keystone XL pipeline. Since then, the politics have grown fractious.

Canada's bid to become what Prime Minister Stephen Harper calls an energy "superpower" is at risk as approval delays for new pipelines threaten an industry already hurt by high costs and rival production.